Review: Versailles (Series 3)
DVD: Versailles (Series 3)
More sex and ruffles from French pay TV operator Canal Plus in its English-language series about Versailles and the French aristocracy who dwell there in Monsieur.
A fantastic beginning with a horse galloping into shot, its hooded horseman arriving at the deepest dungeon in the Bastille, removing the hood we find (surprisingly) Alexandre Bontemps, loyal valet and empathetic advisor to the king. Finally we cut to the face of the prisoner in the dungeon; they are wearing an IRON MASK.
Woohoo! Not true, but then as with most history programmes on TV these days, truth doesn’t matter, sex and frills do (and Iron masks).
Louis XIV describes Versaille as “A beacon to the world reflecting the power and glory of God himself” as he throws open doors the door to the just-completed Hall of Mirrors. Shot in the real Hall of Mirrors you really do gasp at its beauty, and it brings home more than ever that these ‘characters’ were real, and were kings, and despite all the aforementioned frills and sex, the ‘real’ story of The Sun King has been crushed by the weight of making Versailles ‘entertaining’.
Early Season 3 chronicles his attempts to wring yet more money out of the French, and their burgeoning ‘rebelliousness’ as the ordinary people of France they are pushed to the brink, while Louis XIV’s draconian reaction to this unrest results in the most horrific execution of the whole series.
George Blagden is again angelic looking as Louis while Alexander Vlahos is perfectly cast as his ringletted and beautiful brother Duke Phillipe. Their performances are quite something, totally looking the part in beautiful costumes, spitting out their lines with aplomb.
Without a doubt one of the more enjoyable historical series of recent years, and a gorgeous looking series.
For our review of series 1& 2, please click here.
You can buy Versailles (Series 3) by clicking HERE. ALL money raised by purchasing from Amazon via our website is given back to our listeners and followers in upcoming competition prizes. The more people buy, the bigger our prizes.
Review by Tina (co-host of 60 Minutes With) from discs kindly supplied by Aim Publicity.
